#5: DON’T Lie
This is a tough one. There are times we, as adults, live in worlds of half-truths. Professionally, there may be some times when we stretch the truth to our benefit, but these are justifications that do not work in my relationship with my daughter. Yes, there are times I will define a hard boundary and tell her that I do not want to talk to her about something, but it is critical to never lie. I still remember the day after September 11, when I lied to my daughter about moving back to Denver. She poked me on my chest and said, “Dad, I love you, so you do not have to lie to me. If you really wanted to go to Denver, by now we would have gone back.”